Carton



0Q2., 22, 2250 G, E, WA'UDA 2,222,227

CARTON Filed Oct. l5, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l Il f 0d 2%, QSO G, E. WAUDA2,527,157

CARTON Filo'l 00t- 15, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 24, 1950UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 CARTON George E. Wanda, Neenah, Wis.,assigner to Marathon Corporation,

poration of Wisconsin Application October 15, 1947, Serial No. 779,933

2 Claims.

The invention relates to a collapsible carton made preferably from asingle blank of cardboard and the like. More specifically the inventionrelates to a carton having a tray or receptacle portion provided with ahinged cover provided with positive releasable locking means forretaining the cover in closed condition when goods are p'zickaged in thecarton.

Further details and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following specification and drawings wherein:

Figure l is a plan view of the outer surface of anintegral blank fromwhich the improved carton is formed;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a fully set-up carton formed from theblank illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2; 1

Figure 4 is a fragmental, sectional view taken along the line 4-4 ofFigure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmental, vertical, sectional view of thecommodity-filled carton illustrating the relationship of the fcoverlocking means and the cooperating locking flap of the tray, and

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5, illustrating the manner inwhichthe cover is releasably locked to the tray.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown intheaccompanying drawings a form thereof which is at present preferred,sincethe same has been found inv'practice to give satisfactory and reliableresults, although it is to be understood that the -variousinstrumentalities of which the invention consists can be variouslyarranged and organized and that the invention is not limited to theprecise arrangements and organizations of the cartonparts as hereinshown and described.

Referring to the drawings, the carton is made from an integral blank ofpaper, cardboard and the like, suitably cut and scored as illustrated inFigure 1 to provide a foldable tray portion, indicated generally bynumeral 5 in Figure 2. The tray portion 5 comprises a bottom wall I3,front -wall Il, rear wall I2, and end walls I9. Hinge flaps I8,diagonally scored at 59, are integrally connected to the rear wall I2and the end walls I9 by score lines 5I and 52, respectively. Preferably,the score line 5U is perforated. The hinge flaps I8 are provided withL-shaped notches Il at their free corners to permit adjacentsubstantially triangular segments 54 to be glued to the r'ear wall I2.The unadhered segments 55 hinge the end walls I8 to the rear wall I2along Rothschild, Wis., a corthe score line 50, as illustratedin Figure2. The segments 54, however, need not be glued to the rear wall I2 toachieve the desired hinging action. End walls I9 are also provided withdiagonal score lines 8, which in combination with the scored hinge flapsI8, permit collapsing of the tray portion 5 in fiat folded position.

The front wall I 4 is provided with end flaps 20. Triangular segments 30of the flaps 20 are adapted to be overlapped and glued to the innersurface of triangular portions 3| of end walls I9. leaving triangularsegments 32 of the flaps 20 free and unadhered. When the tray portion 5is set up from its flat collapsed position illustrated in Figure 2, thefree portions 32 of flaps 20 will slide over the bottom panel I3 toassume the final set-up position whereby the tray portion will remain inits fully set-up condition for receiving goods 4D to be packagedtherein.

The front wall I4 of the tray portion 5 is provided at its upper edgewith an externally folded locking ap I5 integrally hinged to the frontwall. The flap I5 is preferably hinged to the wall Il along a score line33 positioned at the upper edge of the wall I4 so that when flap I5 isbent back it has a tendency to spring outwardly. Locking flap I5, havingdiagonally cut free side edges 3 and a free forward edge 26, is adaptedto engage and lock with coacting portions on a hinged cover portion,indicated generally by numeral 6 in Figure 2. 'I'he cover 6 comprises atop wall II, side walls I1 and a front wall IIJ. The top wall II isintegrally hinged to the top of rear wall I2 of the tray portion 5 asshown in Figure 2. Side walls Il are provided with flaps I6, the majorareas of which are overlapped and adhered to portions of the front wallI0 of the cover 6. The side walls I1 are also provided with diagonalscore lines I to permit co1- lapsing the cover portion into flatcondition.

The flaps I6 are recessed or cut along lines 2 and 4 adjacent the frontwall I0 so as to provide a substantially L-shaped recessed portion. Thesides of the flaps I6 which are to be overlapped and adhered to thefront wall I0 of' the cover are coated with adhesive except for themarginal areas 60. To aid in defining the area which is unadhered to thefront wall I0, the flap I6 may be cut at 4'. The cut line 4' ispreferably a continuation of the line 4 and is approximately oneeighth(M3) inch in length. Thus, when the flaps I6 are overlapped and glued tothe inside surface of front wall I 0, pockets 6I are formed by themarginal areas 60 in coniunction with the unadhered, underlying frontwall portions, as

shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6. The adhesive may be applied to selectedareas of the front wall I!! instead of the flaps I6 so that uponoverlapping, the flaps I6 are adhered to the front wall i0 except forthe pocket forming portions. Also, the carton material itself may betreated, coated or laminated with suitable compositions or materialswhich will cause adherence upon the application of heat and pressure.When heat is utilized to obtain adherence between the flaps I8 and thefront wall I0, the adjacent surfaces which form the pockets 5I areeither masked so that adherence is not obtained at these areas or elsethe application of heat and pressure is selectively limited to avoidadherence at these areas.

After filling the set-up tray portion 5 shown in Figure 2 with asuitable commodity I0, the cover portion E is placed in closed positionas shown in Figure 5. 1n this position, the inwardly bevelled abutmentedges 3 of the locking ap I5 will abut and engage with the inclinedabutment edges 4 of aps I6. It will be noted that the width B of thelocking flap I5 is slightly less than the distance A of the cut line 2from the top panel Il of the cover 6. The tendency of the flap I5 tospring outwardly on its hinge line 33 will cause the locking flap to beurged against the front wall I of the cover 6. Thus, with the cartonclosed as shown in Figure 5, efforts to open the carton by movement inthe direction of the arrow C, as shown in Figure 6, will cause theleading edge 26 of the locking ap I5 to enter the pockets 6| andpositively lock and retain the cover in its closed position, theabutment edges 4 serving to guide the bevelled edges 3 of the lockingflap I5. The cover will not open unless considerable force is applied toit upon which the locking flap will hinge upwardly and thus release itslocking function without, however, tearing or rupturing any part of thecarton as the walls of the carton are suiilciently flexible. The cover 6can be readily reclosed and locked in closed position as often as may bedesired. The construction described permits a positive anchoring orlocking action which cannot be obtained by simply abutting the edges ofthe locking flap with the edges of extension flaps IG.

Numerous modifications may be made in the carton construction previouslydescribed which constitutes one embodiment of my invention. Theformation of the pockets 6I with respect to the front wall I0 which areadapted to receive the locking ap I can be replaced by other equivaientmeans. For example, flaps I6 may be replaced by separate tabs, of cartonstock or other material of suiiicient stiness, which are not connectedto the side walls I1. The locking flap I5 also need not extendthe fulllength of the upper edge of the wall I5, but may be replaced by twoseparate flaps hinged adjacent each end of the front wall Il. A separatetab may also be glued at the middle of the front wall I0 of the coverand constructed to provide pocket portions for receiving and engagingwith a mating tongue portion hinged at the middle of the upper edge ofthe front wall Il of the tray portion. The locking construction hereindisclosed is obviously not dependent upon the speciilc tray and coverconstruction illustrated in the drawings and can obviously be appliedeffectively to any type of carton construction having a tray portion anda cover portion hinged thereto. Some examples of other cartons withwhich my improved locking construction may be used are disclosed inPatent Numbers 2,369,385 through 2,369,392, issued February 13, 1945, orthe pending application of Harold Riege et al., Serial Number 553,414,filed September 9, 1944, now Patent No. 2,437,835 dated March 16, 1948.

The locking construction herein disclosed serves to retain the cover inlocked position when the illled with goods cartons are handled.Furthermore, when the filled cartons are to be wrapped in an outerwrapper by automatic machinery the cover will not spring open during thewrapping operations. My carton is thus particularly adapted for makingpackages which are required to be completely wrapped with a protectivewrapper as for example in the case of packaging frozen foods and thelike.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it istherefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in allrespects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to theappended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate thescope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A collapsible carton formed from a single blank suitably cut, scoredand glued to provide a foldable tray having front, rear and side walls,a foldable cover hinged to said rear wall, said front wall having anexternally folded locking flap hinged at the upper edge thereof, saidcover comprising a top wall, side walls and a front wall. said coverside walls each having a flap extension said flap extensions each beingcut to provide re entrant recesses in said nap extensions facing the topwall of said cover and having a cut edge opposed to the longitudinaledge of said locking flap, said flap extensions being overlapped andadhered by an adhesive area to inner portions of said cover front wall,said adhesive being spaced inwardly from said cut edge whereby pocketportions are provided in conjunction with the unadhered underlying coverfront wall for receiving portions of said locking flap to thereby retainsaid cover in releasably locked condition 2. A collapsible carton ofpaper, cardboard or the like formed from a single blank suitably cut,scored and glued to provide a foldable tray portion having a bottom, afront, a rear and two opposed side walls, end flaps hingedly connectedat each end of said front wall, said end flaps being overlapped andadhered to the said adjacent side walls and having free, unadheredportions adapted to slide over said bottom wall and maintain the trayportion in set-up condition, said front wall having an externally foldedfreely hinged locking ilap extending along the upper edge thereof, saidlocking ilap being bevelled inwardly of the carton at the ends thereof,fold lines provided in said side walls to permit collapsing of said trayportion into flat collapsed condition, s. foldable cover hinged to thesaid rear wall adapted to be telescoped over said tray portion forclosing same, said cover comprising a top wall, two opposed side wallsand a front wall, fold lines provided in said cover side walls to permitcollapsing of said cover into hat collapsed condition, said .cover sidewalls being substantially coextensive of said cover and having alignedout edges und intersecting cut edges extending inwardly for a shortdistance from said aligned edges, said ap extensions being overlappedand adhered by an adhesive area to inner portions of said cover frontWall, the adhesive area being spaced inwardly from the said aligned cutedges of said ap extensions, which in conjunction with unadhered,underlying cover front wall portions provide pockets, said iiapextensions and hinged locking ap being substantially wholly containedwithin said cover when the cover is in closed position, portions of saidlocking ap being arranged to move within said pockets to thereby retainthe cover in closed position and to permit swinging open of said coverwithout rupture of the carton, the Walls of said carton being sulcientlyexible to permit flexing thereof without rupture of th f 6 materialwhile said hinged locking iiap is under compressive stress duringopening of the cover part.

GEORGE E. WAUDA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 651,070 Enoch June 5, 19001,646,665 Smith Oct. 25, 1927 1,928,792 Ottenger Oct. 3, 1933 l5`2,160,643 Burel May 30, 1939 2,369,385 Carruth et al Feb. 13, 1945

